The Braves demoted Jair Jurrjens to Triple-A Gwinnett last night after he gave up five runs on nine hits in three innings to the Dodgers. It was the worst in a series of bad starts to kick off the season for Jurrjens, who now stands with a 9.37 ERA and has given up 30 hits and has walked ten in 16.1 innings.

While he has been effective — sometimes quite effective — at times over the past couple of years, Jurrjens has always lived on the edge due to a low strikeout rate. This, combined with wear and tear of a couple of injury-marred seasons and overall workload is likely catching up with him. The Braves probably realized this at some point in the past year, as there have been frequent rumors that they were shopping him.

Now, however, he’s pretty unshoppable. The best they can hope for is that he turns it around in Gwinnett enough to where it makes sense to showcase him for a trade again. That is, if he gets the chance. Tim Hudson is going to be activated soon and will fall into a rotation that doesn’t have much room for Jurrjens. So it could be a while before we see him again.

Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports reports Thursday that the Orioles “are said to have begun fielding calls of interest” on superstar Manny Machado and “are close to the point of seriously weighing whether to trade him.”

You’d think it would be a no-brainer for the last-place O’s to flip Machado — an impending free agent — for prospects, but Heyman notes there is “still a question whether or not longtime Orioles owner Peter Angelos” will give the go-ahead. One person familiar with the situation put it a “50-50” likelihood. Another suggested that it would take a massive return, which, sure.

Machado entered play Thursday with a sensational .328/.405/.635 batting line, 15 home runs, and an MLB-leading 43 RBI in 49 games. It’d be a real shock if he’s still wearing an O’s uniform by the end of July.

Heyman reported previously that at least nine teams made aggressive plays for Machado this winter, including the Cubs, Phillies, Dodgers, Indians, Diamondbacks, Yankees, Red Sox, White Sox, and Cardinals. A whole lot of those teams still make sense here in late May — maybe all of them except the White Sox.